That’s the debate sparked by a proposed borough ordinance that would give Hightstown police the right to arrest people for underage drinking at a private residence.

Discussed at a council meeting earlier this week, the ordinance would supplement the state law already in place, which gives police permission to make arrests for underage drinking in cars or public areas but does not mention private homes. Punishments in the proposed borough ordinance — including the loss of a driver’s license for six months for an underage drinking violation — mirror those specified in the state law.

According to Hightstown Police Chief James LeTellier, the new specification would enhance the ability of police to curb underage drinking in the town, especially when they get called in for a noise disturbance that turns out to be a house party. All but two municipalities in New Jersey have adopted similar “private residence” laws, he said.

“I wish the state legislators would’ve included this in the state law instead of letting it be decided by each municipality,” LeTellier said. “We do have an underage drinking problem here in Hightstown.”

While Councilwoman Gail Doran agreed, saying the law could make high school students think twice before throwing a party, Councilwoman Susan Bluth argued that the ordinance would give the police too much power to fight a phantom problem.

“There are already laws on the books for underage drinking. This is too much of an invasion and I don’t support it,” she said. “We don’t have this problem in Hightstown. If there’s a couple of kids a month shy of their 21st birthday and they’re having some beers in someone’s house, I just don’t see why they’d have to be subjected to this.”

Council President Larry Quattrone added that the borough’s police department simply doesn’t have enough staff to handle multiple arrests taking place at the same time, if an underage drinking party were to be broken up.

“I think police would take this to the extreme and they could abuse power and invade privacy,” he said. “Not that I condone underage drinking, but we also don’t have the police to handle this problem — taking in five or six kids to Breathalyse them and handle this stuff.”

In the end, the council decided to table the discussion until the next meeting on March 17, when the board of health will give a presentation and offer their opinion on the ordinance.